Equinor's Heimdal gas complex gets extra life

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway said April 9 that Equinor could keep using its Heimdal gas processing facility in the North Sea beyond its planned lifetime. The company now has consent to use Heimdal and the associated pipelines and wells until January 1, 2024.

“Consent has been granted based on documentation sent to us in relation to the application, previous audits and meeting with the operator,” the PSA stated.

The Heimdal field started production in 1986, 14 years after its discovery in 1972. Most of the field's gas had been exhausted by the end of the 1990s, so Equinor modified it to take on gas from other reservoirs nearby in the North Sea.

The producer on March 18 said partners involved in Heimdal should decide on a timeline for decommissioning the project by this summer.

“New technology and operating methods as well as measures to improve oil and gas recovery mean that licensees often want to keep existing facilities working past their retirement date,” the PSA stated.

Equinor enacted a controlled shutdown at the Heimdal platform in late 2019 after a “serious work-related incident” left two of its employees hospitalised. The incident occurred as a result of an explosion of a portable nitrogen gas container on the platform. There were 70 personnel on board the platform at the time.

Equinor had no statement on the PSA’s decision. Gas processed from the broader Heimdal complex feeds the markets in the UK and continental Europe.